Roller-skate



(No Model.)

T. w. BRYANT. ROLLER SKATE. No. 475,927. Patented May 31, 1892..

UNTTED STaTns ATENT THOMAS W. BRYANT, OF TORRINGTON, CONNECTICUT.

ROLLER-SKATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 475,927, dated May 31, 1892 Application filedDecemhcr 21,1891. Serial No. 415.745. (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS W. BRYANT,a citizen of the United States, residing at Torrington, in the county of Litchfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Roller-Skates; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to certain novel and usefulimprovements in roller-skates, and has for its object to provide a skate which will be readily adjustable to fit different lengths of feet and which shall be exceedingly simple and cheap in its construction.

While myinvention is applicable to a good or even to a high grade of skate, it is more particularly designed for use in the lowest and commonest styles, in which the cost of manufacture is of paramount importance.

With the ends hereinbcfore set forth in View my invention consists and resides in the details of construction hereinafter fully explained, and then recited in the claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to which my invention appertains may fully understandits construction and operation, I will describethe same in detail,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 shows the skate in side elevation; Fig. 2, in section on the line 3 y of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 a modification.

By the numeral 1 I denote a pair of hangers, preferably of cast or malleable iron, one of them having a sole-plate 2 secured upon its top surface and the other having a heelplate 3 similarly attached. The sole-plate may be furnished with any suitable clamp or strap fastening, and the heel-plate likewise has means for securing it to the foot, as shown at 4. Each of the hangers is horizontally bored to form a bearing for the roller-axle 5, upon which the rollers 6 are journaled in the usual manner. Each of said hangers is slotted centrally from front to rear, as appears at Fig. 2, and 7 is a coupling-bar, preferably of rectangular section, fitting closely the openings in the hangers and extending through both of them from front to rear, as shown at Fig. 1. Through each hanger is tappeda setscrew 8, whose end abuts against the coupling-bar and is adapted to firmly secure it and the hanger together. In the first two figures the set-screw passes laterally through the hanger and abuts against the side of the bar. In Fig. 3, however, the hanger has a projecting lug 9 cast thereon, and through this the screw passes vertically to engage the edge of the bar, which to promote rigidity may be roughened or serrated, as at 10. This for several reasons is to be preferred.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that by loosening either one or both of the set-screws one or both of the trucks may be adjusted toward and away from the other, so as to lengthen or shorten the skate, as may be required by the user. The construction, moreover, is of great simplicity and cheapness, since the bars may be cut from a continuous length of strip iron or steel of proper sectional shape and need no fitting or finishing. Thehangers are of castiron, with the longitudinal openings cored therein, and require no machine-work, except the boring of the axle-bearing and the tapping of the hole for the screw 8. The footplates are of sheet-iron riveted to the hanger. Vhile the coupling-bar 7 is not necessarily of the shape shown, I find this form to be preferable, since the strain of the skaters weight is in the direction of the greatest diameterof the bar and the engagement of said bar through the slots in the hangers permits little opportunity for sidewise play. here a great range of adjustment is not required, as in childrens skates, one truck may be rigidly secured to the bar.

I am aware that extensible roller-skates have been previously made, and as an instance of such a skate I refer to the patent of Alanson \VoothNo. 237,152, dated February 1,1881. Ido not wish to be understood as claiming anything shown in the \Vood patent, confining my invention within the limits defined by the clauses of the claim here following.

I claim 1. In a roller-skate, a pair of foot-plates, each provided with a hanger having a rectangular opening extending therethrough from front to rear,in combination with a couplingbar of rectangular section extendingthrough the two hangers, and a set-screw in each hanger adapted for engagement with the coupling-bars, substantially as described.

2. In a roller-skate, a pair of foot-plates 2 5 and 3, each provided with a depending hanger 1, each of said hangers having a rectangular slot extending therethrough from front to rear, in combination with the coupling-bar 7,

consisting of a single piece of metal of rectxo angular section, and the set-screws 8, tapped through the hangers and engaging the bar, all of the aforesaid parts arranged and adapted to operate substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I al'lix my signature in 15 presence of two Witnesses.

THOS. WV. BRYANT. Witnesses:

LEWIS M. JONES, OHAs. L. MCNEIL. 

